Overview
The Department of Medicine recognizes that mentorship is critical to success across all phases of a career in academic Internal Medicine. At its best, mentorship supports the development of a personal and professional foundation for lifelong career achievement, scholarship, and scientific discovery.
We therefore seek to honor faculty members for their contribution to the scientific, educational, and patient care missions of the Department of Medicine through exemplary sustained and high impact mentorship.
Two awards are given annually to recognize excellence in mentorship. Recipients receive $2500.
Endowment
The endowment was created and the name changed in 2018 as an enduring tribute to Dr. William Bremner for his legendary wisdom, vision, coaching and sponsorship that fostered countless trainees and faculty in pursuing their passion and in reaching their ultimate potential.
Dr. Bremner was chair of the Department of Medicine from 1998-2018 and is currently a professor. From 1979-1987 he served as chief of endocrinology and from 1987-1998 as chief of medicine, both at VA Puget Sound Health Care System. In the latter position, he was also served as vice chair of the Department of Medicine.
An honorarium for professional development accompanies the award and the award will be presented at a Department of Medicine Grand Rounds. We would like to thank Dr. Emily Wong, former associate chair for clinical programs in our department, who was instrumental in securing funding for this endowment.
Criteria
Eligibility criteria
- Nominees should hold the title of associate professor or professor.
- Nominees should have an established track record of mentoring of faculty - mentorship of fellows and trainees will also be considered as applicable to the award criteria.
- Be active faculty in any of the three promotion pathways, with a primary appointment in the Department of Medicine. Faculty can be nominated for excellence in mentorship outside their own faculty track
- Recipients of other Department of Medicine or School of Medicine mentorship awards in the same year are not eligible
Evaluation criteria
(“if applicable” criteria reflect potential areas of focus for DOM faculty)
- Has had a significant and sustained impact on the professional growth of their mentees – BOTH in terms of depth of impact with individual mentees and breadth of impact across multiple mentees
- Inspires and encourages mentees through successes as well as challenges
- Demonstrates a commitment to fostering the intellectual, creative, scholarly, and professional growth of mentees to help them achieve measurable academic success
- Respects individual mentee’s goals and helps their mentees work towards them
- Demonstrates and inspires commitment to wellness and work-life integration
- Demonstrates a commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion in mentoring
- Demonstrates professional behavior, attitudes and/or leadership skills that aid mentees in achieving their goals
- Facilitates networking to build mentees’ influence and reputation to advance their careers
- If applicable, provides instruction and actively guides the development of research skills (e.g. planning and conducting studies or experiments; successfully applying for grant funding; writing and publishing manuscripts) as well as other skills such as time management, professionalism, and organization
- If applicable, provides instruction and actively guides the development of scholarly work, including medical education, quality improvement, safety, and equity
- If applicable, is committed to advancing clinical skills, including leadership in patient care innovations, delivery of care, and clinical organizations
- If applicable, provides instruction and actively guides the development of teaching skills of mentees in the classroom, clinical setting or other settings
Nominations
Nomination packets must include:
- Division head letter of support (up to 2 pages)
- CV, including a table of mentees (including mentee names, mentoring period, mentor’s position on mentoring team, notable mentee accomplishments and current mentee position)
- Up to 5 additional nomination letters from post-doctoral trainees (e.g. fellow) or faculty members who can speak to the candidate’s mentorship ability (maximum length 1 page each)
Submission guidelines
Nomination packets with all material should be compiled into a single PDF by a lead nominator (self-nominations are allowed). Please email the compiled nomination packet to Desiree Pemberton.
For questions, please contact Nisha Bansal.
Timelines
Call for nominations in October/November. Recipients announced in December/January.
Past recipients
2024
Kari Nelson
Mark Wurfel
2023
Janis Abkowitz
Bruce Psaty
2022
Thomas Gallagher
W. Conrad Liles
2021
J. Randall Curtis
Shireesha Dhanireddy
2020
Jonathan Himmelfarb
Stephanie Page
2018/19
Edward Boyko
Patricia Kritek
2017
Kristina Crothers
Joyce Wipf
2016
Rosemarie Fernandez
Oliver Press
2015
Matthew Golden
Mark Tonelli